The softball season has officially ended, with Fossil Ridge coming up short in their 11-9 loss against Erie High School during the state quarterfinals.

Fossil’s state tournament started off well, as the No. 12 Sabercats upset No. 5 Chatfield 3-2 in the opening round. 

Fossil jumped out to an early 2-0 lead to catch the Chatfield Chargers off balance. The Sabercats held onto that lead for nearly the entire game, pitching five scoreless innings to start the game. But Chatfield bounced back, putting up two runs in the bottom of the 6th, tying the game heading into the 7th and final inning.

The team stayed focused, as senior shortstop Katelyn Hays hit a crucial RBI double in the top of the 7th to take a one-run lead, and sophomore pitcher Brooklyn Cardenas slammed the door shut with two strikeouts in the bottom half of the inning.

The good times continued to roll during the start of their matchup against the No. 4 Erie Tigers. The Sabercats scored seven runs in the first two innings, highlighted by a pair of massive doubles from Lucy Ostapovich and Heidi Schneider. The Tigers quickly narrowed the gap, scoring five in the bottom of the second inning to cut the Fossil lead down to two. Fossil added another run in the fourth off a solo home run from senior catcher Kodi Alvord to widen their lead. However, Erie’s potent offense added another three runs to tie the game at eight. 

The Tigers added three more runs in the fifth and the sixth, as the Sabercats found themselves trailing 11-8 heading into the seventh and final inning.

Fossil added a ninth and final run, but came up just short against Erie, losing by two.

The Sabercats have consistently struggled against the Tigers, losing all three of their matchups this year, extending their losing streak to five over the past four years.

While Fossil didn’t reach the same heights as previous years, the team still had quite the season, beating top tier teams including Legend, Horizon, and Legacy, along with qualifying for their 12th consecutive state tournament.